Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on Ghanaians to use exercise as a tool to improve efficiency and to cut down on their health expenses, particularly in this austere period.

He has also encouraged the citizenry to pay special attention to their health, by exercising regularly.

The Vice President said this at the maiden edition of the National Keep Fit Day at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday morning.

The exercise is expected to take place on every second Saturday of every month across the country.
Thousands of health and fitness enthusiasts including King of the Ga state, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, Sports Minister Mustapha Yusif, professional cyclists, soccer teams from some selected second cycle schools in the Greater Accra region, former world champion Azuma Nelson, and some politicians participated in the walk.

The fitness enthusiasts were taken through some aerobics when they converged at the Accra Sports Stadium where the dignitaries took turns to address the participants.

The Ga Mantse in a brief remark of admiration declared that ‘’the National Fitness Day has come to stay’’.

Former Northern Regional Secretary of the NPP and Consultant for the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation, Alhaji Haruna Abdulai hailed the proponents and organizers of the national fitness day.

‘’Keeping fit is keeping well, and as finance person I know that keeping fit will reduce the health budget and that alone will bring some savings to people in terms of their health cost,’’ Alhaji Haruna said.

On his part, Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia who led and declared the National Fitness Day, also used the platform to call on the general population to use exercise as a means of not only reducing their individual medical bills, but improving efficiency at their respective place of work.

‘’If we are healthy in body, we are healthy in mind, and so we want to make sure that Ghana is healthy, and the national fitness day should help us build fitness and that means better productivity for us," he said.

The Vice President rounded up the day by having a go at his favorite sporting discipline, table tennis.